ABSTRACT This proposal requests funds to support ?The Optical Revolution in Physiology: From Membrane to Brain?, the 71st Annual Symposium of the Society of General Physiologists (SGP). The meeting will be held on September 6 ? 10, 2017, at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, MA. The SGP annual symposium has an established reputation as a world-class meeting for physiologists, cell biologists, and neuroscientists, spanning across all career stages and professional arenas. Each year the meeting topic is unique, chosen to highlight emerging fields. The 2017 conference will bring together ~175 scientists who are developers and users of new optical tools for understanding biological function, both in normal physiology and in disease. Optical methods are having an increasingly huge impact on physiology, particularly pertaining to the nervous system. From the invention of new probes for visualizing and manipulating cell physiology, to the invention of new types of microscopy, the optical revolution is transforming physiological study at every level of complexity, from membranes to cells to intact organisms. The significance of the optical revolution is clear: today?s breakthrough optical technologies will turn into tomorrow?s cutting-edge tools for diagnosing and treating human disease. This includes the possibility of optical high-throughput drug screening on cells from individual patients with rare diseases. One major theme for this meeting is the focus optical imaging at an increasingly fine resolution. Nobel Laureate Eric Betzig (HHMI, Janelia Farms) will deliver the ?Friends of Physiology' keynote lecture, highlighting his invention of super-resolution microscopy, a technology that allows visualization of molecules in cells at a resolution higher than the diffraction limit of light. SGP symposia are large enough to cover a range of speakers, while being small enough to maximize individual discussions and foster collaborative interactions between students, postdoctoral fellows, new investigators, and established leaders. The organizers, Dr. Richard H Kramer (UC Berkeley) and Edwin Levitan (U Pitt.), are pioneers of optical techniques in physiology. They have assembled a star-studded group of 21 platform speakers, whose presentations focus on 4 aspects of the optical revolution: (1) new optical technologies for imaging and manipulating individual protein molecules, (2) new optical probes for imaging and manipulating signal transduction and membrane trafficking, (3) new optochemical and optogenetic tools for sensing and manipulating electrical activity, and (4) implementation of optical approaches for in vivo imaging and manipulation. The Society of General Physiologists provides excellent administrative support to ensure the success of the meeting. The overarching goal of the meeting is to inspire young investigators and to communicate new and significant ideas essential to the advancement of human health and treatment of disease.